Overview
- Justices C. Hari Shankar and Om Prakash Shukla on November 24 quashed Rule 20(1) and parts of Rule 20(2) of the Coast Guard (General) Rules, 1986.
- The court held that fixing different superannuation ages lacked a rational nexus to duties and violated constitutional guarantees of equality in public employment.
- The Centre’s arguments on maintaining a younger, sea‑going profile and medical evacuation risks were dismissed as unsupported by empirical data.
- The order directs that all officers retire at 60 and that petitioners who left at 57 be treated as having served to 60 with pay, increments and retiral benefits recomputed.
- The ruling draws on earlier CAPF precedents not previously applied to the Coast Guard because it falls under the Defence Ministry, creating direct implications for pay and pension administration.